Intermediate Indulgence and Nocturnal Ettiquette
by The Paperback Righter
Summary: After a night out drinking, Jeff escorts Annie and Britta back to Casa de Trobed. Fluff.


"Which one is it?"  
Jeff's voice rang out surprisingly clearly given the quantity of alcohol in his body. Just in front of him there was a flash of movement as Britta turned around, her hair whipping around the side of her face. She stumbled a little, one hand reaching out for the wall to steady herself as the other hovered in front of her lips, her index finger extended upwards.  
"Shh," she hissed. "Don't wake Annie."  
Jeff smiled as he felt the girl on his back shift at the sound of her name. She rested her chin on the arm draped lazily over Jeff's shoulder and stuck out her tongue at Britta.  
"I'm not asleep," she said slowly, clearly putting a little effort into getting each word past her lips. "I'm just... y'know, resting."  
"So it wasn't you snoring in the backseat of the car earlier?" Jeff asked teasingly. Annie lent her her on his and slapped his chest.  
"I was asleep _then_," she said. "But then I woke up, b'cos _someone_ dragged me out into the cold night."  
"Didja want to spend the night sleeping in Shirley's car?"  
"_Yes!_"  
Britta shushed them again as she peered at the door next to her.  
"Mmkay, guys," she said. "It's 303. And this... this is 301. So not here. It's, like... over there."  
She waved an arm behind her, stumbling again as she did so and falling against the door to 301. Annie began giggling, pressing her face into Jeff's shoulders to stifle the noise. Britta pushed against the wall to get herself standing again and shot a glare at the smirking Jeff.  
"Don' judge me," she muttered.  
"Lead on, Ken Jeong," he replied.

The door to apartment swung open with a slight creak, the wood around the keyhole only slightly marked by Britta's five attempts to align her key with it. She took three careful steps into the room, one hand trailing across the door to help her balance. Jeff followed close behind, with Annie once again asleep on his back. Britta looked up at him, standing on tip-toes to whisper in the direction of his ear.  
"Abed's prob'ly asleep," she said. "An' he doesn' like t' be woken up by bright lights. So we're gonna have to go in the dark. You know where Annie's room is, right?"  
She turned away before Jeff could respond, her eyes sliding between the blanket fort and the door to Troy's bedroom. She held up a hand, her index finger and thumb outstretched in an apparent attempt to measure the angles between them.  
"Britta!"  
She jumped slightly at Jeff's hiss, having almost forgotten him in the space of a few seconds, and glared back at him.  
"What?" she grumbled. He jerked his head at the door.  
"Key."  
She nodded and grabbed at it, yanking it out of the keyhole on her first try. She allowed herself what she thought was a surreptitious fist pump before yanking at her top and slipping the key back into her bra for safekeeping. She frowned and glared at Jeff again.  
"Don't look at... at what I just did," she told him, mentally adding the words "misogynist pervert", just in case. Jeff rolled his eyes and watched as she made her way across the room, veering dangerously close to the blanket fort before reaching Troy's door. She mouthed something at him before opening the door, half-falling through it as she did so. There was a brief, muffled _thump_ before the door clicked shut behind her. Jeff snorted in amusement before turning his attention to the job at hand. He carefully adjusted the placement of his hands to get a better grip on Annie, while at the same time trying to make sure he didn't touch anything too far north of the knee.  
"Once more unto the breach," he muttered.

"Annie!"  
Annie moaned and forced herself to open her eyes. She blinked a few times to see in the total darkness, rubbing her hand up and down while she waited. Eventually she was able to make out the outline of Jeff's head.  
"Mm?" she mumbled.  
"Can you get the door? My hands are kinda full."  
Annie nodded, banging her chin on his shoulder in the process, and flung out a hand, banging it on the door. She winced and let out a small, high-pitched yelp.  
"Close," Jeff whispered encouragingly. "Just... keep your hand there, alright?"  
Annie nodded again and she felt herself drop as Jeff crouched a little. Her hand touched metal and the closed her fingers around the door handle.  
"Gottit," she hissed triumphantly, her lips rubbing against Jeff's ear.  
"Okay then. Just turn it, and we can get you to bed."  
Annie huffed - who was he to tell her when it was bedtime? - but she managed to twist the handle enough to open the door. From there, Jeff nudged it open with his foot and carried her inside, kicking it shut behind them. He turned around as they reached the bed and crouched again, releasing his hold on her legs. Reluctantly, Annie unwrapped her arms from around his neck and dropped gracelessly onto her mattress.  
"There we go," Jeff said, turning around to look at her. "You okay?"  
"Yeah," Annie replied, curling up on the bed. Jeff smiled.  
"You get some sleep. I'll see myself out."  
Annie nodded sleepily, before a thought struck her and she shot out a hand to grab his arm.  
"Before you go," she murmured, trying to drag him closer. "Where'd Britta go?"  
"She went to sleep too."  
"Good. I like Britta."  
"She likes you too."  
Jeff looked down at the small hand still clutching his arm. He laid his other hand on hers, gently trying to prise her off.  
"Annie, I really have to be going..."  
"Stay."  
He paused.  
"I can't," he replied slowly. Annie pouted and shook her head.  
"Just until I fall asleep," she said. "I don't wanna be alone yet."  
Jeff smiled and maneuvered himself into a sitting position on the floor, leaning back against the bed. Annie relinquished her iron grip on his arm, but he kept a hold of her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers. Within a minute, the sound of her breathing had relaxed into the regular rhythm of sleep.  
Jeff slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone, quickly tapping out a text to Shirley waiting outside. As soon as it sent, he put his phone away and rested his head on the mattress, allowing his eyes to slide shut. After a few minutes, his hand fell away from Annie's and landed on his outstretched leg. Hers flopped over his chest again. The room was silent, save for the harmonized tune of their breathing.

_You can take off. I'm spending the night here. See you tomorrow._


End file.
